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Buckingham Palace

• Served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837
• Evolved from a town house
• Was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Dukes of Buckingham
• Today it is the Queen's official residence
• Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by the Queen, areas of Buckingham Palace is opened to visitors on a regular basis
• State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during Annual Summer Opening in August
•  Visits can be combined with visits to The Queen's Gallery, which reopened in May 2002

The Gallery

• Probably the most famous and easily recognizable facade of any building in the world.
• Palace is a working building
• Centerpiece of Britain's constitutional monarchy
• It houses the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family
• Palace is also the venue for great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, all of which are organized by the Royal Household

Big Ben

• 9'-0" diameter, 7'-6" high, and weighing in at 13 tons 10 cwts 3 qtrs 15lbs (13,760 Kg), the hour bell of the Great Clock of Westminster known worldwide as 'Big Ben' is the most famous bell ever cast at Whitechapel
• Looks most spectacular at night when the clock faces are lighted
• You even know when parliament is in session, because a light shines above the clock face
• Four dials of the clock are 23 feet square
• Minute hand is 14 feet long and the figures are 2 feet high
• Minutely regulated with a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum, Big Ben is an excellent timekeeper, which has rarely stopped
• Name: Big Ben actually refers not to the clock-tower itself , but to the thirteen ton bell hung within
• Be

• ll was named after the first commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall
• Bell came originally from the old Palace of Westminster
• Was given to the Dean of St. Paul's by William III
• Before returning to Westminster to hang in its present home, it was refashioned in Whitechapel in 1858
• The BBC first broadcast the chimes on the 31st December 1923 - there is a microphone in the turret connected to Broadcasting House
• During World War II in 1941, an incendiary bomb destroyed the Commons Chamber of the Houses Of Parliament, but the clock tower remained intact and Big Ben continued to keep time and strike away the hours
• It's unique sound was broadcast to the nation and around the world, a welcome reassurance of hope to all who heard it
• There are even cells within the clock tower where Members of Parliament can be imprisoned for a breach of parliamentary privilege, though this is rare; the last recorded case was in 1880
• The tower is not open to the general public, but those with a "special interest" may arrange a visit to the top of the Clock Tower

                Westminster Abbey

• Famous throughout the world as one of greatest churches in Christendom
• Draws visitors from all corners of globe
• Over a thousand years people of this nation have seen their monarchs crowned in settings of pomp, tradition and splendor, unsurpassed in today's modern age
• Interior is absolute delight
• Gothic architecture draws the eye repeatedly and one wonders how such an immense structure of beauty could have been built hundreds of years ago
• Roof of the nave is one of the finest of any building in world
• Soars above you as you crane your neck to view its immense design and great height
• Could spend hours wandering around marvelous buildings, chapels and other memorials
• Just to witness some tombs of famous Kings and Queens who's names conjure stories of great feats performed in battle, treachery, intrigue, and murder is something not to be missed on trip to London
• All are here, each having tried to outdo the other even at their deaths, surrounding themselves in splendor, although all of the gold and jewels have long been stolen
• Visit to the Abbey while in London could not be more simple
• Excellent transport via tube and bus from most parts of central London
• Abbey used to have a policy of asking for donations from visitors as a way of admittance, but they now charge for admission